birthday to birthday in one week.

I always feel the need to preface these type posts with an apology.
...mainly for the lack of excitement and for the excess in pictures.

When I was little, my mom's friend Carla had a friend pass away in a car accident and I remember over-hearing her tell my mom that this mother had written on a calender what they did every day...
She had a little girl, and I remember them saying that one day she would really cherish that calender.
I thought, even way back then, that I wanted to do that for my kids too.
I didn't really get into blogging with that as my goal, but sometimes when I struggle with who I am writing to--
you, who's reading it today...
or my kids, who will read this decades from now--
I remind of myself of that mom.
And I write.

***
Last Monday was Beckham's actual birthday.
I kept Maddox home from school because he was still having a little diarrhea and I thought an accident at school would have been more than he could handle.
Instead, we picked up donuts and took them to Lance's store to eat.

My dad came over around lunch time and brought the boys each a bat and we played outside in the perfect weather.
I made Beckham icecream cone cupcakes (the pinterest way, where you fill the cupcake pan to the brim and turn the cone upside down on top-- the batter rises into the cone and they all come out perfect!)
And Lance was home in time to take part in dinner and festivities!

Tuesday Lance was off.
I know I have griped until I was blue in the face about the hours he works and his time away from home--
but now that I am used to that schedule, his days off always seem to throw a wrench into my day.
We had a super yummy lunch at Joe Ts and then we ran around  town to the most boring places on earth.

Backwoods.
2 different TCU stores.
And Cheaper Than Dirt.
He only bought one thing, in all of our adventures (which was actually a cap for Maddox) but he has a list 7 miles long of the things he wants to buy-- and none of them are cheap.
So even though he doesn't actually 'buy' the list... every time he wants to tell me about "the next gun he is buying" (when honest to God, he can't even begin to tell you how many guns he already owns) or knife, or hat, or shirt, or truck, or RV or jeep, or....
I want to have an anxiety attack.

Wednesday was my day off.
Maddox had school and B and I played.
Lance obviously did bot get enough boy adventures on Tuesday, and asked me to meet him at Cabela's with the boys after he got off.
He bought another hat.
Again, for Maddox.
...and since all of Maddox's clothes and shoes and accessories are all thrifted down to B, I never mind those purchases.  I feel like we get our money out of them.

Thursday
must have been uneventful.
I've got nothing.

{Except this picture where I caught Maddox changing Beckham's diaper... he asked me not to put it on "my internet"... but you know me!}

Friday I wrote that sweet blog about how fun my boys are and how I adore their ages right now.
We went to the Food Park Festival at the Ballpark in Arlington that evening and they proved me right.
It was kind of a pricey little adventure, but a ton of fun!
We tried a little bit of everything to eat...
The weather was perfect, there was a live band, it wasn't too crowded, they had a bounce house for the boys, and we danced like no one was watching.
The kids loved it just as much as Lance and I did--
And we were able to go into the stadium, all blacked out, and see the field too.
We had so much fun together!

   
Saturday I ate crow.
Every time I write a blog about how blissful and calm and serene and beautiful our life is,
It flips.  --Kicks me in the shin and then I want to sucker punch karma right in the face.

Maddox had a football game.
Beckham started screaming the moment we set up our camping chairs and refused to pull it together.
He didn't want his stroller-- he didn't want in my lap-- and he certainly did not want to stand on his own.
I didn't even make through the first quarter before I started packing up our crap and heading to the car.
We saw another mom on our way out and while I was chatting with her, he calmed.
We decided to stay.
At the far end of field; where I could see nothing.

Lance assures me I didn't miss much as Beckham wasn't our only uncooperative child.
Maddox couldn't pay attention, was horsing around, falling down for no reason-- and Lance sent him off the field for goofing off.

I took no pictures, because Mr-fuss-all-game was only chill when he was watching "Mouse" on my phone.

I did snap a pic of Lance leading prayer before the game... which was really sweet and definitely out of his comfort zone.
I love him.

The boys and I followed Lance to work and we had lunch there.
Afterward, I drove another town away, before I realized the shoe store that had the shoes he wanted was within walking distance from his work.  (where we just were)

By that time we made it back to the correct store, the back seat was all snores so I had to wait...

But they didn't sleep long enough...

As my kids embarrassed me beyond belief in the store!  They were running everywhere, not minding, and Maddox even tried to pop a ball with a ink-tag poker thing!!
I know, because a lady who works at the store pointed it out!
I bet I said, "quit", "stop", and "enough" 7,004 times.
I ended up ripping Maddox by the neck of his shirt to the time-out chair and I said a tiny prayer that they weren't recording me for the next episode of Maury.

Frustrated and spent, I finally had to spill the beans to Lance that I was surprising him with shoes because I couldn't find the specific ones he wanted... but needed him to pick a pair from that store because Maddox's Nikes are coming apart at the threads and Rack Room always does BOGO.
And we all know I'm cheap frugal.

He drove over and told me that "he would take" one pair but he still wanted the pair at the other store too.
I reminded him that he spent $9 on my birthday...
And he isn't getting 2 pairs from me... it was these or nothing.  I was NOT making another stop with those two heathens.  I was done. 

He picked nothing... and I left wanting to pull all 3 of their ears off...

Sunday I was on call.
The weather was crazy amazing-- and my kids played outside all day long.

I wrote "I love you" in sidewalk chalk, and Maddox wrote "ILFU2MOM" next to it, which translates to 'I love you too mommy" in four year old.

He also drew himself (with a knife and a sword) fighting a big alien.  He was bummed that his alien looked more like a snowman but was impressed with Beckham's world, and helped him finish it.
He has a large imagination.
I love that.

If I posted the pictures alone, you would have no choice but to assume we had a glorious and perfect day.
But I like to keep it real.
The boys fought...
Maddox has forgotten how to follow directions...
And it never fails that the moment I get on the phone with a patient, the world falls apart.

Parts of the day were fun,
but I was super excited to see Lance walk in the door.
And over the top to put them to bed!

Monday was Lance's birthday.
He is 32.
It is crazy that we have been together since he was 20 years old.

We dropped Maddox off at school and Beckham and I headed to the grocery store to put together a little surprise for Lance.
He spent the morning at Dallas Cowboy stadium hosting a players lunch on a contract they just landed there.
He and Luke ate up every minute of it, and since Luke use to caddy for a few of the players; they had some fun conversation too!
 
Beckham was so, so, so good at the store--
and the weather was so amazing, we spent the rest of our day outside, waiting to pick up Maddox.

 
Maddox did not have the same great day.
He got a stick pulled in PE because he was suppose to only run 5 laps and he ran 6.  (or something like that?!)
Basically-- for not obeying the rules.
...The same thing we had dealt with for 2 days.


I wanted to punish him and remove anything fun from the rest of his day, but I was already 2 feet into the surprise I had planned for Lance so I had to pretend to be more mad than I was-- and dish out an empty threat that the party was off.

Lance finally made it home, call was going nuts...
but we headed to Paradise.
I forgot my charger and my purse, so 10 minutes down the road, we had to make a U-turn and start again.

We were off to a rocky start, but the evening could have not gone better, had I planned it for months.
The weather was glorious.
My brother's family came out.
My parents had concrete poured earlier in the day for their shop so the kids carved their names.
The guys played catch... the kids played tag... we laughed...
hard.
We talked...
We roasted hotdogs and made smores.

My brother's family left and my parents called it a night too, and my little family stayed layed out by the fire until 10:00 or so and then called it a night in the RV.

Today Lance was off.
We packed up our campsite, showered, and then cruised my parents land for a bit before we went home.

Clean, mow, football practice...
and we are ready for tomorrow.

***
And that's that.
A birthday to birthday in one week.